At 21 seasons deep, it’s becoming harder and harder for South Park to push the envelope with Mr. Garrison. Even before he was officially elected President of the United States, he had ascended to power by fucking the Canadian President to death—an act that was always going to be tough to follow in terms of shock value.

Over the past year, South Park has often bitten off more than it can chew when it comes to current events. Tonight’s episode takes on the fear of sexual harassment allegations in the workplace, Netflix’s endless greenlighting of new series, the threat of nuclear war, and probably a few things I’m forgetting. And…

Nathan and Mimsy have only served as the main antagonists on a handful of South Park episodes, but it feels like more. That’s because each of their non-background appearances has been a disruption to the show’s universe.

In the typical American sitcom, the two storylines of “Doubling Down” would have converged by the end of the episode, especially since their subject matter is so similar. On one end, there’s Cartman and Heidi’s poisonous relationship, with Eric constantly gaslighting her through multiple breakups and reunions. No…

Has there been a comedy series whose parodies are as esoteric as South Park? Where one episode makes fun of a well-known artist like Barbara Streisand, another recreates the fight scene from the cult classic They Live shot for shot. For every takedown of a mainstream show like Family Guy, there’s an entire episode…

“Hummels & Heroin” preempts South Park’s what-we-learned-today speech by getting its message out of the way early. After a guy playing Chuck E. Cheese at a children’s birthday party overdoses on opioids, one of the police officers remarks that he’s sure the drugs are coming out of prison. “When there’s a drug…

Even if Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always been shameless in their self-promotion, they’ve at least been able to turn it into a good joke. To sell more tickets to The Book Of Mormon tour, they tacked on an advertisement to the end of a Broadway-themed episode in Season 15 (one of their best), and their South Park:…

Given the pedigree of the actors, the Rance family was never going to stick around long. And by the end of The Exorcist’s first season, they had little reason to, regardless of whether or not the parents were played by Geena Davis and Alan Ruck. Pazuzu was once again defeated and the Rances were safe—if somewhat…

Too often with South Park, we get caught up in the message. And by we, I mean us. Yes, even you. Have you ever debated about the meaning of a particular episode in the comments section? Have you ever been absolutely sure that you’re correct about what it’s trying to say, even as others tell you you’re wrong? I sure…

Before we begin, let’s get this out of the way: I promise not to make every South Park review about whether or not Trey Parker and Matt Stone bring up Donald Trump. But it’s worth mentioning again tonight because 1) It’s only the second episode of the 21st season and 2) It’s the first time this year he’s been…

The entire marketing campaign for South Park’s 21st season has centered around a back-to-basics promise. According to promos and interviews with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, it will be a season without serialization; a season with more silliness and less politics; a season without Donald Trump.

Whenever a comedy show or film series starts up again after a lengthy break, the current trend is to acknowledge the hiatus. Take Wet Hot American Summer’s two subsequentNetflix seasons,where so much of the humor comes from how much the cast has aged, even as they continue to play characters they were much too old…

In Michael D’Antonio’s 2015 biography on Donald Trump, Never Enough, Trump is quoted as saying “I don’t engage in self-analysis, because I might not like what I see.” It’s a rare and accurate moment of inner reflection for the current president of the United States. Unfortunately, he refuses to explore the observation…

When I first heard Bruce Springsteen’s “Jungleland” as a ten-year-old, it sounded gritty. It sounded real. It sounded like the heart of youth, an accurate portrayal of what it was like to be young, in love, and obsessed with music.

In film and television, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” almost always spells trouble. And why shouldn’t it? Despite its upbeat and swampy boogie-woogie, the lyrics are explicitly foreboding. There’s a reason why it was used to such iconic effect in An American Werewolf In London, right before the…

When reviewing The Get Down, many critics (myself included) have focused on the show’s criminal element—its gangsters, its drug dealers, its button men—never congealing with its musical element, even though the two worlds would naturally intersect in late-’70s New York.

Early on in “The Beat Says, This Is The Way,” Marrakech Star’s Roy Asheton insists that, if Mylene wants to be taken seriously as an artist, she needs to start crafting high-quality albums instead of just singles. While he’s right, it’s somewhat odd to hear a powerful executive of a disco label—a non-AOR musical genre…

When reviewing the front half of The Get Down’s first season, most of my criticisms revolved around the series’ tonal inconsistency—how the near-parodical villains and politicians clashed with the more authentic portrayals of inner-city youth and, of course, hip-hop and disco music in the 1970s.